Tesco - stepping up and hitting targets

'To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail’. So goes the tried and tested business axiom - something that many governments are now learning to their cost.

All kinds of supply chain are now under threat worldwide. Lack of management and foresight in matters of logistics and distribution is hampering production and food security everywhere. Crops are being ploughed back under and livestock is being euthanised due to bottle necks and lack of throughput within systems.

However, thanks in part to the leadership of Dave Lewis, supermarket giant Tesco had already rehearsed a number of ‘doomsday’ scenarios. Four years ago the retailer carried out several exercises and social simulations; none of which were as extreme as the realities present here today. Lessons were learned - and implemented then.

In the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic UK food retailers, for once, were not wishing 'it could be Christmas every day’.

Record demand - equivalent to December 23rd shopping - rocked the sector day after day for nearly two weeks. The Tesco contingency planning, although in place, was just about able to keep pace.